You Don't Understand
by TheOriginalSnapespeare
Summary: All Lizzie wanted was a full life. Remus was not human. He never was going to be normal. He never thought he could live a full life. What happens when their worlds collide? Can they find love in a hopeless place?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 Hogwarts**

A light breeze past through as we stepped out of the car.

"Now you're sure you've packed everything Liz?" My dad asked as he tugged my shining new trunk out of the car.

"Yes dad. I've checked five times now."

"Well I just want to makes sure. This is your first year, I don't exactly know what happens if you forget something." He added nervously scratching at his neck.

"I'm sure if I need anything someone could help me figure it out. Really dad you worry too much!" I laughed as I leaned back into the car to pick up my owl cadge. A rather ruffle-feathered barn owl stared back at me. "I'm sorry Artemis." I cooed sympathetically, "but we've still got a bit of traveling ahead of us." She did not look too happy about the promise of a longer journey.

"That's what you decided to name it then?" Dad asked as he tripled checked the car for anything we might have missed.

"It's a _she_ Dad, and yes I decided to name _her_ Artemis after the Greek goddess of the hunt. I figured it's an owl, owl's hunt, it just seems to fit. Why you don't like it?"

"It's not that I don't like it, I'm not entirely sure I can even pronounce it! Now let's go you don't want to miss your train." He chuckled to himself and headed off to the train station. "What's the platform again?" He asked glancing over his shoulder.

"Nine and three-quarters." I answered back.

"Are you sure that's what your ticket says? I've been to kings cross loads of times, I have _never _seen nine and three-quarters." I loved my dad but honestly he could be so hopeless sometimes.

"Did you listen to _anything_ Professor McGonagall had said? You wouldn't have seen it before because you're a Muggle. We have to walk between platforms, 9 and 10." He wasn't always like this, forgetful and paranoid. Before my mother died he actually was quite put together. But we lost her years ago in a car accendent and he was never quite the same.

"Sorry, I'm not used to all of this. It's not part of the guide to parenting. It's not one of the typical miles stones. You know there's learning to walk, getting your first tooth, but not every dad has to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is a witch. I don't understand how you can be so calm about it." I thought about that for a moment.

"I don't know. It just sort of made sense to me. I never really felt like I belonged anywhere. Not with kids my age, not with kids older or younger. I just always felt out of place. When I get that letter, it just all seemed to make sense to me. Does that make sense?" I asked uncertain if he was following.

"I guess if it makes sense to you, it makes sense to me." He smiled down at me. "Well here we are, what next?" He glanced around uncertain. I rolled my eyes.

"Follow me." I said taking a few strides; I prayed that the wall in front of me was not solid. But I stepped through as easily as if it were composed of only air. A few moments passed, and I didn't see my dad. I was about to go back through the barrier when he finally came through.

"That's incredible." He mumbled mostly to himself.

"That's magic!" I corrected. We loaded my things into a compartment and we stepped off the train to say our goodbyes. I embraced him with a hug.

"The house is going to be so lonely without you." He mumbled into my hair. It was hard for me to see him so emotional.

"I'll write you loads! It'll be like I never even left! Plus I'll be home for all the holidays. It's going to be ok." He smiled.

"Sometimes I wonder which of us the parent is. Just have fun ok kid? You're only a kid once, and before you know it it's gone. Study, but not too hard! Make friends, but not too many!" I rolled my eyes.

"I've got it. I've got it all. Now I've got to go before the train leaves without me. I love you Dad."

"I love you too Liz." With a final hug and kiss on the cheek I bounded off towards the train that would take me to a new world. A new life. I sat in the compartment and fished out one of my favorite books. From what I had heard, this was going to be a very long train ride. Several minutes later my compartment door slid open and a boy stepped in. He was of medium height with light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hello." He said quietly

"Hello, I said looking up from my book. I stared waiting for him to continue.

"May I join you?"

"Sure. There's plenty of room." I said. I put my book down beside me and helped him load his trunk in the overhead rack.

"I'm Remus." He said extending his hand. "Remus Lupin." I smiled taking his hand in mine and shaking it.

"I'm Elizabeth Bennett, but you can call me Lizzie." I said. We dropped our hands and Remus sat across from me.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your reading. A good book is hard to come by." Remus apologized nodding at my book.

"It's alright; I've read it loads of times, so I'm not missing much."

"Oh what is it?" He asked trying to peek a glance at the cover.

"_The Three Musketeers." _I answered, handing him the book so he could closer inspect it. He looked at the cover and flipped through a few of the pages.

"I've never heard of it. Is it any good?"

The best! My favorite actually. Are you muggle-born?" I asked

"Half. Dad was a wizard, mom was a muggle." Remus answered. "But that doesn't matter does it?"

"Not to me. I was just curious. You see I'm muggle-born. Why does that matter to some people?" I asked nervously.

"Well yeah, but not anyone important. Some people mistakenly think that muggle-borns are less magical that pure-bloods. In fact, muggle-borns are more clever than most." He answered matter of factly.

"Oh." I answered. Then I thought of changing the subject back to something we were both comfortable with. "Do you like to read?" I asked a little two hopefully.

"I love it! A lot of people say I only read boring stuff. Right now I'm reading _Hogwarts a History_. It's all about the four founders and secret passages in the castle and things."

"That sounds fascinating!"

"Yeah?" He asked seemingly disbelieving me. He stood on his seat for a moment and dug around for something. He produced a decent sized volume and handed it to me. "What do you say to a trade then? Not permanent of coarse this being your favorite book and all, but just to have a chance to read it? I haven't read many muggle books, and I bet you've never read a wizard book before. What do you say?"

"Sure!" I replied. "But how will we get them back to each other?"

"Hogwarts isn't that big. And we're in the same year so I'm sure we'll share at least one class, even if we're not in the same house. Plus there's always owls isn't there?" He indicated to Artemis' cadge which I had left on the floor of the compartment.

"Yeah. Alright. It's a deal then." I extended my hand again, and we shook in agreement. "Have you thought about which house you'd like to be in yet?" He asked eagerly.

"Well I don't really know much about them." Remus reached for _Hogwarts a History _and handed it back to me. The pages contained detailed descriptions of each of the four Hogwarts houses and the characteristics they represent. After reading the pages over and over again, I shut the book with a loud thud. Remus glanced up from _The Three Musketeers _smiling.

"You've figured it out then?"

"Well they all sound rather grand, but I'm not really cunning, so I don't think the sorting hat will place me in Slytherin. I've never been good at making friends, so I doubt It'll put me in Hufflepuff. So I guess it's down to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. I think I prefer Ravenclaw though, because I just love everthing that house has to offer. How about you?"

"I've always been between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor myself. It's an age old question isn't? Brawn vs. Brains? Well I guess we'll find out soon enough." Soon we both became absorbed in our books again. Before we knew it, the train has lurched to a halt and we had arrived in a small wizard village.

"Next stop Hogwarts!" Remus said smiling. "Don't worry about your trunk the school will take care of it." He assured me as we stepped off the train.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon follow me—Anymore Firs' years? Mind your step, follow me." I followed Remus as he lead me towards the direction of an 11 foot tall man.

"Is he a giant?" I whispered trying not to be rude.

"Half-giant, I think. He's not quite tall enough to be a full giant." _Half-giant?_ I mouthed not believing it.

"If he's a half-giant is a full giant, what 22 feet tall?"

"About that yeah, and he has a name. It's Hagrid." Slipping and stumbling we followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep narrow path.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." Hagrid called over his shoulder "Jus' round this bend here." The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry night sky, was a vast castle with many turret and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

"Let's go!" Remus said smiling, as he pulled my arm towards the nearest boat.

"Do you know how to row?" I asked.

"Yes." He said smiling. He was true to his word. He rowed nearly as fast as the half-giant himself. We grew nearer and nearer to the cliff that held the castle.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as we neared the cliff. We ducked down and sailed through a certain of Ivory that was concealing some sort of entrance to the castle. We walked through a dark tunnel and finally stopped at a large round wooden door. The door swung open at once. A tall black haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. I knew who this was. This was Professor McGonagall; she was the deputy head mistress at Hogwarts. She was the Professor who hand delivered my Hogwarts letter and explained to me and my dad and magic.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here." We followed Professor McGonagall into the elaborate Hogwarts entrance hall. The Stone walls were lit with flaming torches and a magnificent marble staircase stood to my left. It was everything I had dreamed it could be. We continued on across the flagstone floor, into a small empty room. Once all the first year students had filed in Professor McGonagall began to explain about the Hogwarts houses and the points system at Hogwarts. IT was fairly easy, triumphs earned points and failures lost you points. She then left saying she would be back when it was time for us to be sorted.

"Nervous?" Remus asked laughter dancing in his eyes.

"Not a bit." I lied.

"Me neither." He replied confidently. Professor McGonagall returned shortly and lead the group into the Great Hall. Candles floated about the ceiling that had been enchanted to look like the night sky. Our group came to a halt and the ceremony began. With the surname Bennett I was one of the first few to be sorted. I took a few calming breaths as I made my way to the front of the hall and sat on the stool to the side of Professor McGonagall. The sorting hat seemed to barley touch my head before calling out "RAVENCLAW."

I was incredibly pleased with the sorting hat's choice, and bounced off to the Ravenclaw table watch the rest of my year be sorted. There were very few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs I noticed. Many of the students were either sorted into Slytherin or Gryffindor. Not long after me there was a not so looking girl named Bellatrix Black sorted into Slytherin. She was directly followed by a relative Sirius Black we was sorted into Gryffindor nearly as soon as I was Ravenclaw. Professor McGonagall continued down the list, and finally she reached Lupin, Remus. The hat seemed to deliberate for a few moments as to which the best choice would be but in the end it called out "GRYFFINDOR."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello Everyone! I'm sure you think I have abandoned this story, but fear not I have returned! Of course it is not my main priority, but I certainly did not forget about Lizzie and Remus, they have many great surprises ahead for you all. I have been super busy working this summer, and then settling into college, but never fear I have returned to my writing and will hopefully be updating again soon! Please continue to read and review. **

**Chapter 2 It's A Friendly Get Together**

A roaring cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table. Remus gave a nod in my direction as he made his way to his house's table. I glanced around the Ravenclaw table and noticed we were one of the quietest tables in the Great Hall. After a scanning the table, I realized that most of the house had their noses planted inside a book. _I'm going to fit in perfectly here._ I thought in agreement with the sorting hat. I pulled out Remus' copy of _Hogwarts a History, _and continued reading from where I had left off on the train. At some point food appeared in the golden goblets and serving dishes. Several courses and deserts later the food disappeared and Professor Dumbledore stood to address the school.

"The very best of evenings to you all! Now, to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you, however there are a few start of term announcements. Please note the forbidden forest is off limits to all students. A reminder that first year students are not eligible to play, but anyone else wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. I believe that is all, let's have you off to bed then." He added with a kind smile.

The next few weeks had gone rather well, though I was disappointed to see that first year Ravenclaws shared only History of Magic, with the first year Gryffindors. As a result of scheduling, I rarely saw Remus, and was far more interested in absorbing everything I could about magic to make any other friends. The volume of homework was manageable, but only slightly enjoyable. Whenever possible I escaped to the library for several hours a day. In my time there I had become friendly with the Hogwarts librarian Madame Pince, and often helped her replace books to their respective shelves. That's what I was doing the day I saw Remus there for the first time. He was sitting alone at a large table in one of the far corners of the library, across from the restricted section.

"Hello Remus." I whispered quietly sitting at the table across from him.

"Oh, hello Lizzie." He answered back quietly.

"You don't look well." I told him.

"I was…up late last night." He answered.

"Oh, with your friends? It seems like you're always together."

"No, I was alone."

"Alone? What would you want to be up so late at night alone for?" I asked.

"Because…" he seemed to be weighing something inside his head. "Sometimes I just need to be alone."

"Oh. I understand." I said sincerely and I turned to walk away. "But you should know that those books aren't an effective replacement for a good bed." I added with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind." He answered back with a smile. He took one of the books from under his elbow and began to read it. I turned back to the bookshelf when he called my name again. "Lizzie how much do you know about transfigurations?"

"Well I'm actually pretty good at it." I told him. "Why do you need some help with something?"

"Yes and no…" He paused again. "I need help, but it's not for class really, it's more of a personal interest than anything."

"Personal interest being that you want to better your transfiguration skills so that you can pull more pranks I suppose." I asked accusingly.

"No, no." He said shaking his head violently. "I was reading about some advanced transfiguration in a book, and I came across the subject of animagi. You know, witches and wizards who can change shape and become animals?"

"Oh, Like Professor McGonnagall? I've heard something about that. They can transform into animals, but unlike Metamorphmagus it's a learned skill, not something inherited." I answered.

"What else do you know about it?" He asked leaning forward.

"Not much more. But I can find out for you if you like. I spend lot's of my free time here., and I think I know just where to look."

"That would be great!" He said jumping up excitedly, then as if changing his mind he touched his hand to his forehead. "Though maybe we could do this some other time, I really need to get some rest."

"How about Saturday?" I asked. "There are no classes, and I'm sure we can find a quiet place somewhere."

"That would be great Lizzie! It's a date then!" He said about to leave.

"A…a…date?" I asked. He stopped realizing what he said, and then looked down at the ground awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Well…I mean…you like, It was an expression…not like a date, date of coarse…More of a…Friendly get together…between friends!" He added nervously.

"See you Saturday Remus." I said picking up the stack of books he left behind, while he awkwardly exited the library.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Saturday morning was dark and cloudy a perfect day to be spent in the Library. Then again every day was a perfect day to be spent in the Library if you asked me. I had realized early in the week that Remus and I hadn't discussed what time we would be meeting that day. I arrived at breakfast that morning as early as possible hoping I hadn't missed him yet. I stayed seated at the Ravenclaw table long after I'd eaten my breakfast. I pretended to read a book, while casualty glancing up and down the Gryffndor table once in a while. Breakfast was nearly over when Remus and his friends finally made their way down from the Gryffindor tower. While they sat down heads pulled close together, I gathered my things and made my way toward them. Remus and his three friends were whispering wildly about something as a approached. They didn't seem to notice me standing across from the table watching them. I cleared my throat loudly trying to attract the attention of at least one of the boys. When this was unsuccessful I tried again, only louder. I was about to try again when a red headed girl three seats down stopped me.

"There's no point." She called from her seat. "You'll be doing that all day if you try to get their attention like that. They'll only listen if you call one of 'em by name." She explained before calling out the name, "James Potter!" Sure enough all four heads turned in unison towards the red headed girl. "That Ravenclaw want to speak to you lot." She nodded in my direction, before turning back to her own friends. The four boys turned away from the red headed girl, and focused on me instead.

"Um, hi!" I smiled, and gave an awkward wave. "I'm Elizabeth, well Lizzie." I told them offering my hand out for a shake. Immediately a tall handsome boy with long, curly, black, hair took my hand and kissed it.

"Name's Sirius Black, first one's free, any more than that'll cost you."

"Sorry?" I asked not really sure what he was talking about.

"Never mind him." A second boy with short, wild, dark hair said shaking my hand. "James Potter and this here is Peter." He told me pointing to a small, chubby boy with small apprehensive eyes.

"It's nice to meet all three of you." I said shaking hands with Peter. "But really I came over to speak with Remus. We are supposed to be meeting in the Library today, though we never said what time, and so I've come to ask." Remus thought for a few minutes before speaking.

"I've got to help James and Sirius with some homework they've been putting off for last minute, and then I promised Peter a rematch of Wizard's Chess. I'm not really sure how long all of that will take. I'm sorry I nearly forgot about our…library date. Would you like to join us? The sooner I help them, the sooner I can get to the library."

"Well, I wouldn't want to impose. It sounds like you boys have got the full day planned out. I wouldn't want to interrupt any of your plans."

"Come on! The more the merrier!" The boy named Sirius exclaimed. Neither James nor Peter seemed to have an objection to me joining them for the day. Nodding I spoke again.

"Ok. Where are we off to first?"

"The lakeside, it's the only place I can take them where they won't get distracted by everything around them." Remus told me leading the small group out of the Great Hall.

"Maybe _we_ should spend more time in the Library James." Sirius elbowed his friend, winking in my direction. James shook his head immediately.

"Don't even joke about visiting a horrid place like that Sir. 'sides why would we want to be cramped in a gloomy library all day, when we've got our very own walking library right here!" James told Sirius as he clapped Remus on the back.

"Not all libraries are gloomy and cramped." I tried to convince James. "When the sun is out, it's quite warm in the Hogwarts' library."

"Lizzie's right. When the sun shines through the windows in the middle of the day, there's nothing better than curling up in the library with a good book." I laughed remembering that the last time I saw Remus he was literally curled up on a stack of books, sleeping in the back of the library. He must have remembered too, because he smiled at me as Sirius scrunched his face at us.

"I think you two are off your rocker. Nothing is a good substitute for some old fashion sunshine. The wind blowing, and the smell of the great outdoors." We had almost reached the banks of the lake when the boys led me up a small slope. Atop the slope there sat a large oak tree, we gathered around the base of the tree and made seats out of its roots. "If I had my way," Sirius continued, lifting his chin so the sun could warm his face. "I'd never be indoors. I'd stay outside all day."

"And do what?" Peter asked. It was the first time he'd spoken and I had forgotten he was even there.

"Run." Sirius answered him plainly. "Nowhere in particular. Just, run." He closed his eyes, focusing on something far off.

"Well unfortunately, things aren't run your way, and you've got an essay due for Slughorn on Monday. So I suggest you stop sunbathing and open up your textbook." Remus said tossing a potions book in Sirius' general direction. Soon enough Remus had Sirius and James undivided attention as he tried to aid them with their essays. That left only me and quite Peter with nothing to do.

"Have you ever played wizard's chess?" Peter asked producing a chessboard from his bag. I shook my head.

"I've seen some of the older Ravenclaws play, but I haven't taken up the game myself. I've never even played muggle chess."

"Would you like me to teach you? I'm quite good, though not as good as Remus."

"Sure Peter, I'll play with you." I adjusted myself so that I sat cross-legged in front of Peter. With his Wizard's Chess board between us Peter taught me the basics of the game. After about an hour I had grasped the general concept and squealed with glee as I put Peter into check for the first time. After that the games became intense. He was right he was actually quite good at the game but once we'd played a few rounds I was able to pick out Peter's weak points. I achieved a successful victory only a half-hour later. Every once in a while James would comment that I was only beating Peter because I was a Ravenclaw, or Sirius would make comment that no self-respecting Gryffindor would lose a game of Wizard's Chess to a girl. Remus attempted to stay neutral by whispering helpful strategies to both Peter and I. They were immature, goofy, but overall they were friendly. I decided that day that I wouldn't mind being friends with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

After about twenty games of Wizard's Chess I started to get restless.

"Pete, Wizard's Chess is fun and all but we've been playing for about two hours straight. Is there anything else we can do?" Peter looked longingly down at his chess board as if it was the only hope he had at achieving social interaction ever.

"I'm open to suggestions." He finally said regretfully putting the board and pieces away.

"What are you three working on?" I asked trying to read over Jame's shoulder.

"They're just about to start charms." Remus answered across from me.

"Dad when do we get to have fun!" Sirius whined tossing his hands up in the air. This caused the essay he was working on to fly up in the air and be carried off into the wind. Before any of us could catch it, Sirius' essay had sailed itself right on top of the lake. Our small group burst into laughter, even Sirius though the joke was at his expense.

"Well it looks like someone's got to do his potions essay again!" James roared with laughter.

"Don't know what you're laughing at mate. I'll just copy yours." Sirius said snatching the parchment from James' hands.

"I think next time you both need to do yourselves a favor and no wait till last minute to get all this work done." I scolded them.

"Oy, you're starting to sound like him!" James said jabbing his quill in Remus' direction. "Suppose we should call you mum then?" he asked in a very serious tone, putting his quill away.

"James if I was your Mum, I'd feel guilty about doing this." I smiled as I gave him a gentle push so he tumbled off the root he had been sitting on, and splashed right into the Black Lake. "Nope didn't feel a thing!" I called as his head resurfaced. I thought for sure that had earned me a good shove into the lake, but once again all four boys were laughing. Rather than angrily stomping out of the water, James spent several minutes floating and swimming around before calling back to us.

"Come on in, the water's great!"

"Brilliant idea! Lizzie." Sirius said forcing his essay into Remus' hands as he kicked off his shoes. Once he had removed his shirt, Sirius jumped in, lightly splashing the three of us still left on shore.

"Wait for me!" a shirtless Peter called as he followed right behind Sirius. I looked around, cautiously checking to make sure no other students or Professors were around as I toed my own shoes off.

"You don't have to do this." Remus said. "I'm sure only trouble will come from it, and they'll like you either way."

"What makes you think I'm doing it just so they'll like me?" I asked removing my light jacket but nothing else. "The way I see it, I gave them the idea, so if trouble comes from it I'll be the first one who gets blamed any way. Might as well join them and get some fun out of it." Remus didn't seem to have a good rebuttal, or he was used to this sort of thinking from his friends already. When he said nothing I simply shrugged my shoulders and joined James, Sirius and Peter in the Black Lake.

"Come on Remus, what's keeping you?" James called from a few feet offshore.

"James someone might see us! There has to be some rule about it…" Remus told him while trying to recall such a rule.

"I don't remember Dumbledore saying anything about it at the feast, do you Pete?" Peter, who was splashing large amounts of water on Sirius, paused only long enough to shake his head no.

"be-sides," Sirius attempted to get out through Peter's watery assault. "If we do get in trouble, who you think they're going to blame more. Us in the water or you who stood by the bank, watching it happen without alerting a professor?" Accepting defeat Remus removed his shirt and kicked off his shoes before reluctantly joining us in the water.


End file.
